Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: College-Hockey

The NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Committee has selected the 16 teams that will be participating in the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

The championship playoff format involves four predetermined regional sites with four teams assigned to each site. The four regional winners advance to the Men’s Frozen Four. The entire championship uses a single-elimination format.

Automatic qualification privileges are granted to the postseason champions of five conferences. The remainder of the field is selected at-large.

Yale University was the No. 1 overall seed. The other No. 1 seeds, in order, included the University of North Dakota, Boston College and Miami (Ohio) University.

Ex-Whaler goalie and longtime broadcaster Greg Millen, now 53, believes that US college scholarship opportunities will be drying up for Canadian players.

In Millen’s view, because the US is developing top talent from nontraditional hockey areas (e.g. California, Texas), more of those kids will snag American scholarships. Ergo, more Yanks, fewer Canadians.

The good news, said Millen: better homegrown talent available for Canadian universities, in turn providing a boost to that system.

Millen could prove prescient, but according to Paul Kelly, head of Newton-based College Hockey Inc., there is no indication at the moment that Division 1 US colleges have sated their desire to stock rosters with the best Canadian boys.

A record-setting crowd attended the outdoor hockey game at Michigan Stadium on Saturday, according to Guinness World Records.

The question now is: What will be the official attendance count?

When Michigan defeated Michigan State 5-0, the university announced an unofficial crowd of 113,411 in the third period. That figure easily broke the old record for highest attendance at an ice hockey game, set when 77,803 attended this year’s International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship game in Germany.

Still, Guinness record manager Mike Janela, who attended Saturday’s game, said in an e-mail to The Detroit News on Tuesday he still was awaiting the official number.

“We are still awaiting further information, such as verified lists of other eligible, non-ticketed spectators such as the marching bands and special guests of the university,” Janela said. “As such, we do not have a final official number yet and, unfortunately, may not for a couple more weeks as we await everything.

That’s how Coyotes prospect Chris Brown explained his experience on Saturday when he and his teammates at the University of Michigan hosted rival Michigan State in an outdoor game staged at the Big Ten school’s storied football stadium in Ann Arbor….

“I didn’t think there was going to be 113,000 people at the game,” said Brown, a sophomore forward whom the Coyotes selected with the 36th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. “I thought we’d get 100,000 but I didn’t project over that. I thought the cold weather would keep some people away, but there was actually 113,411 people and you could feel all of them there. When we scored, fireworks went off and you just heard this roar from all the fans.”

You have had the date circled on your calendar for months. You have your Big Chill At The Big House tickets in hand and even secured the obligatory T-shirt announcing to the free world that you were part of the largest crowd to ever witness a hockey game.

OK - so before you go out and purchase five copies of the Guinness Book of World Records to back up your shirt’s claim, let’s step back for a minute.

What do you actually know about what you are going to see Saturday at Michigan Stadium?

Maybe you are among the die-hard hockey lovers that can’t wait to see the puck drop on Michigan and Michigan State on Saturday (3 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit). Maybe you have committed both teams’ stat sheet to memory just to impress your friends.

But for the rest of you, oh, give or take 80,000 ticket holders who are coming along for the ride, we figured we would help you out.

A Canadian NCAA hockey player has regained feeling in his arms and legs after having his neck broken by a bodycheck over the weekend.

University of Denver centre Jesse Martin remained in a Minneapolis hospital with three fractures to his C2 vertabrae. Doctors were expected to perform surgery on the Edmonton native within “24 to 48 hours,” his father Terry Martin said late Monday afternoon.

“He’s progressing with movements in his legs and his arms,” said Terry Martin. “Feeling is returning back to his fingers and things. So those big ticket items are showing progress. ...

“We’re hopeful, guardedly so, but definitely he’s on the right side of centre.”

continued and if you have not watched a video of the hit, you can do so below…

Penn State has added both men’s and women’s Division I ice hockey to their school’s athletics programs. Both teams will be ready to go for the 2012-13 season. This has been made possible by an $88 million donation to build an ice arena.

Recession? What recession?

All jokes aside, I always think it’s good news when a hockey program or team is dropped into a market that will embrace it. Considering the state of Pennsylvania is home to two teams that have represented the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals for three straight years, I’d say Penn State will do well with their teams.

Had things remained as planned, Jarred Tinordi would have started fall classes at Notre Dame last week, extending the summer sessions in which the 18-year-old already had enrolled.

But Tinordi is long gone from South Bend. On Aug. 11, Tinordi signed with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, said goodbye to Notre Dame, and gave up his NCAA eligibility. By doing so, Tinordi, drafted 22d overall by the Canadiens this year, became the second highly touted defenseman to withdraw his Notre Dame commitment in the last two years. Cam Fowler, Anaheim’s first pick in June, would have been a Fighting Irish freshman in 2009-10. Fowler opted for Windsor of the OHL.

Naturally, Paul Kelly, executive director of College Hockey, Inc., is disturbed by the departures.

“We have to stop the continuing relentless recruiting that goes on after a kid enrolls or commits to a college program,’’ said Kelly, head of the 9-month-old program. “If Jarred Tinordi enrolls at Notre Dame, starts taking college classes, intends to stay with the program, and physically moves to campus, once that happens there shouldn’t be any continued recruiting until the end of the season.